The Kingdom of Bahrain participates in the Arabian Deaf Week

21-04-2024

The Kingdom of Bahrain participates with society in celebrating the occasion of Arabian Deaf Week, which is celebrated in the last week of April every year, in order to increase community awareness, highlight the basic rights of this group of society, empower the organizations that represent them, and promote projects concerned with them. On this occasion, Mrs. Zainab Salman Al-Awainati, Welfare and Social Rehabilitation Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Social Development, confirmed that, in compliance with the Kingdom’s interest in the rights of all persons with disabilities, the Ministry launched a package of projects, initiatives and programs that were included in the executive plan of the National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the years 2023 - 2027 to represent a vision, an integrated framework, and a national commitment to the support and support necessary to empower this group and integrate them into society, based on the Kingdom of Bahrain’s commitment to international agreements and charters in a way that contributes to achieving social integration and consolidating and ensuring societal equality. She said that this occasion is an opportunity to intensify attention to the category of hearing disability, which number 2,252 male and female citizens, representing 16% of the total number of persons with disabilities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as to learn about the nature of the challenges and difficulties they face, pointing in this context to the Ministry’s efforts in coordination with all governmental and private bodies. and relevant private sectors, to harness the necessary technologies and capabilities to overcome challenges through implementing various rehabilitation programs and expanding services and projects that would enable the deaf and hard of hearing group and their associations to play an active and positive role in the social development process, allowing them to practice their lives normally and obtain all their rights as An important and effective part of community development. Based on what was stated in the general principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which showed special interest in deaf people and their sign languages, respecting their privacy, their right to obtain sign translation, and the use of bilingualism in education, rehabilitation, and participation in cultural and social life and recreational activities, the Ministry was able, through the Sheikhan Center Al-Farsi Comprehensive Speech, which is a center specialized in rehabilitating and educating people with hearing disabilities and enabling them to complete basic educational competencies and develop them in a way that facilitates the process of integrating them into the ranks of the Ministry of Education, from feeling the capabilities and creativity of this group, which was able to defy the world of silence to enter the world of work and public life. It proves that disability does not prevent the manifestation of these energies and the positive contribution to the development and advancement of society. She explained that the Ministry was interested in empowering civil organizations working in the field of disability - including hearing disability - to help them manage and operate rehabilitation centers and pioneering development projects to provide services free of charge, in addition to providing hearing aids to citizens with disabilities who meet the conditions and criteria for eligibility, in addition to providing Free training service to obtain a driving license in partnership with the General Traffic Department. They can also benefit from facilities and privileges from government agencies and ministries designated for this category, in addition to discount rates from institutions and shops.